Battery Acid
by Starlight Disaster
Summary: -Nomega- Nudge is alone, the Flock missing presumed dead and being hunted by an enemy she thought long gone. As the shadows close in can she find a reason to keep fighting?
1. White Room

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing to do with Maximum ride.

* * *

There was something wrong with the sausages.

Ella's mom had given them to Max before they had left, sealed in a plastic box. "For the journey," she had said and Max had hugged her, tears glistening in her eyes. "Thanks Mom," she had choked out, incredibly emotional. She hadn't wanted to leave, none of them had but there was a world to be saved and a Director to hunt down!

With teary farewells behind them the Flock had flown for the entire day, following the instructions of Max's Voice.

And when night fell they had set up a fire and Iggy had cooked the sausages to perfection. They had settled down to eat and Nudge had taken a big bite of hers. And then...and then...

It had tasted of metal and ice, burnt her throat as she swallowed it and the instant she did she was retching and gagging, trying to bring it out of her stomach where it blazed like acid. The rest of the flock were in similar states, choking and screaming. Then, one by one they had collapsed.

Nudge watched Angel collapse into a white, feathery pile before the blackness had built, choking out her every thought and she had fallen to.

* * *

She woke in a tiny cramped room, lit by one dusty bulb swinging on a bit of string. The shadows the dim light threw up were wild and erratic, dancing like mad things on the cement walls.

"MAX!" She screamed as soon as the drugs effects had worn off and she could think coherently.

"MAX! IGGY! FANG! ANGEL! GAZZY!" The screams tore loose from her aching throat and bounced back off the walls, nearly deafening her. "MAAAXXX!"

The scream trailed into a gut wrenching sob and Nudge sank to her knees, fighting the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes. She didn't have time to be miserable! She had to find a way out of here! All right...What would Max do?

Find the door!

It took Nudge all of two seconds to locate the only way in and out of the cell; a vast iron door that not even a battering ram could get through let alone a scared twelve year old girl. There were no windows and the walls were solid concrete.

She was trapped.

The feelings of utter despair and hopelessness washed over her and she burst into tears, huge _tearing _sobs shaking her entire body and tears streaming down her face.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Immediately Nudge hurled herself away from it, crouching down the far corner of the cell, terrified of what might come through. She heard the metallic clinks as someone undid the locks that were on the other side of the door and there was a grating noise as it swung open. Hollow footsteps echoed as he walked towards her.

When she saw who it was hope sang through her veins. He would help her, he had always helped her, he was a good guy! But then why was he here?

"Jeb?" She asked, her voice trembling. He didn't reply and Nudge felt sick with apprehension. "Jeb, where am I? Where's the flock? Where's Max?"

He looked at her coldly for several seconds before replying, his voice flat and emotionless. "You are in the School Nudge. It doesn't matter where the flock or Max is, you don't need to know."

"Why are you doing this?" Nudge choked out, her body shaking. Jeb was supposed to be a good guy, even when he seemed to be working for the School he wasn't like this - flat, cold, uncaring.

And then he smiled, a malicious smirk that sent chills down her spine. "Why Nudge? _Why? _Because it's my job, that's why. You're an experiment and I'm a scientist."

"You were working for them all along weren't you?" Nudge said, her voice shaking as comprehension dawned. "All this time; just a game."

"Not a game Nudge, a test, a test to see if you were good enough." He turned and walked towards the door. Pausing, with his hand on the handle he looked back at her, dark amusement in his grey eyes.

"Just so you know Nudge; you weren't"

And then he slammed the door and left her, left her, left her...

* * *

The whitecoats came in, three of them burly and strong. Pinned her down and stabbed a needle in her leg. Then the drugs took effect and everything blurred...

_Screaming. White. Blinding lights. Needles. Drugs. Pain. Where was the Flock? Max? Iggy? Fang? Gazzy? Angel? MAX!_

_Help me, make it stop they won't stop and ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts. _

_Dark and pain and more drugs and everything hurts. _

_Max? Are you there? Can you hear me? Help me Max, please help me. They're coming back. No, no nonononono not again! MAX!_

_Can't breathe, can't move, can't feel. Blinding lights overhead, warped voices speaking. Can't understand. _

_The smell of metal and the taste of my own blood in the back of my throat. _

**_MAX!_**

_Whycan'tanyonehearmetheyhavetohearme._

_This is a dream. Just a dream. I'll wake up soon and everything will be safe and happy again. _

_Jeb you bastard, you bastard, you bastard. I'll kill you! Do you hear me? Can you hear me? CAN YOU HEAR ME? _

_"This subject is a human-avian hybrid, part of the disastrous Batchelder project...No of course I don't blame you Doctor Batchelder, even though these experiments carry your name its not your fault that they turned out the way they did. Now, if I may continue? Thank you."_

_Another set of drugs. _

_"Since they are obsolete in every other way this one is being used to test new drugs; medicinal, hallucinogenics and the like. Illegal?" A soft chuckle. "Of course, but really, who cares?"_

_Who cares? Who cares? Whocareswhocareswhocareswhocares..._

* * *

_Days and months and years and cages and dark and pain._

_Blood between her teeth and tears in her eyes. _

_Who cares?

* * *

_

"Can you hear me?"

What an odd voice. Dull and emotionless and so very bored. They don't want to be here. They want to be off somewhere else. They want to be off somewhere else, like a party! Birthday party! Nudge loved parties, with cake and games and the like. But not yet! She doesn't have anything to wear. "But I don't have a nice dress for the party," she complained as she rolled over onto her side. Her whole body ached and her limbs felt like lead. There was something on the side of her face, something warm and sticky but congealing fast, forming a crusty coating on her cheek. She raised a hand to her cheek and wiped the icky, gooey stuff away, opening her eyes a crack to examine it. Her fingers were covered in a viscous red-brown substance which smelt familiar but she couldn't quite place it...

Blood. _Blood_!** Blood!**

"Blood!" Nudge screamed as she sprang to her feet, instantly alert. There was blood on her face! And... Feverishly she examined her arm and saw that it too was smeared with caked on blood. She looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing a paper thin shift dress and her feet were clad in canvas plimsolls. Both the dress and the plimsolls were flecked with red. Her head was killing her but she disregarded that. Where was she? And why was she covered in blood?

She wheeled around and her head span so badly that she almost passed out. There was someone watching her, someone who seemed horribly familiar but she just couldn't place them. Her vision was too blurry so she squinted and steadily the image swam into focus. It was a boy. A few years older than her, a few inches taller with light brown hair and silvery blue eyes.

Silvery blue eyes.

Gasping with shock Nudge took a step away from him but her back hit a cold wall and she couldn't retreat any further. "Omega..." she whispered, her voice barely audible.

He nodded conformation and studied her carefully. Nudge could hear her heart hammering in her ears, she was terrified. Max had beaten him - just, and Max was a brilliant fighter. Nudge wasn't. Suddenly she felt a pang, a desperate longing for Max and the flock that was almost physical pain but she blinked back the tears that threatened to come. Now wasn't the time.

"Where am I?" She asked, her voice wary.

"The School." He replied, his voice as blank as ever.

Fighting to keep a hold on herself, swallowing hard to stop the bile rising in her throat from the rusty smell of the blood. "A-and the b-blood? Where did that come from?"

He was perfectly clean except a faint red stain under his fingernails. Nudge wondered where it had come from.

"The blood came from the failures." He said in his robotic monotone.

Dread rose like vomit. Nudge began dragging in air as he continued, verifying her horrific theory.

"The failures that I was ordered to terminate."

Shaking, shaking with fear and disgust Nudge plucked up the courage to look around. The room was white and silver; white walls and silver metal tables. The floor was made up of cold white tiles, like the ones you might find in a bathroom.

And it was drenched, _drenched _in red; splashed up the walls and gathering in pools on the floor. There were _corpses, _grisly lumps of flesh scattered around.

Nudge closed her eyes but it was too late; the nightmare scene burned behind her eyelids where she couldn't blot it out. She leant forward, doubled over and retched; vomiting on the white floor. Then she opened her eyes and didn't look at the room, instead focusing tear-blurred eyes on Omega.

"Am I next?" Her voice was strangely calm, as though she had already accepted her fate.

Omega looked puzzled as though what she had said made no sense. "Of course not. My orders did not include you."

Nudge knew better than to be relieved, she was just suspicious. "Then why the _hell_ am I HERE?" Her voice rose as she spoke and by the end of it she was screaming at him. He didn't flinch.

"The doctors threw you in. You were unconscious; drugged. I didn't understand why; you weren't slated for termination." He paused and looked towards the door. "I have finished my job, they will be here soon. It would be easier if they stayed; it would save time." He shrugged and a slight frown creased his face. "I don't understand why they never stay."

Nudge gaped at him in disbelief. "You don't _understand_ why they don't stay? They may be evil but no-one wants to see this...this..." She gestured towards the blood-soaked scene before her without looking at it. "Screw saving time, no-one wants to see this."

Omega's frown deepened and he looked at her in confusion. "But I would not have harmed them."

Nudge shook her head. "You don't get it do you? No human...not even an evil scientist wants to see people getting torn apart. It's disgusting." She shuddered and felt tears begin to trickle down her cheeks, tears for the poor "failures" that Omega had termi_- murdered_.

Omega's mouth opened as if he was going to ask another question but just then the double doors opened and three whitecoats strode in. He snapped to attention at once, his face expressionless.

One of the scientists turned away as soon as they entered the room. Another turned faintly green and averted his eyes with a muttered: "Oh God." The tallest, with grey, thinning hair and hazel eyes didn't look at the blood and gingerly picked his way towards Omega and Nudge. He looked from Omega to her and then back to Omega again, glaring at him furiously.

"Why didn't you kill the girl?" He snapped.

Nudge gasped and stared at the man with horrified eyes. Omega's face remained blank as he answered. "They were not my orders."

The man's eyes narrowed. "Well I'm ordering you now. Kill her!"

Omega didn't move. "I only take orders from the Director."

The man flinched as though he'd been struck. "She was in the room!" He protested. "Your orders _from the Director _were to terminate all in this room. Do it! Kill her!"

Nudge, terrified looked for a way out but there was none. If Omega attacked then she'd have no choice but to fight. And that was no choice at all.

"No." Omega stated, his voice beginning to sound annoyed. "You put her in the room, she was not there at the start. Therefore she is not slated for termination by the Director and therefore I will not kill her."

The man stared at him in disbelief, clearly he was used to being obeyed. He exploded. "Kill her damn it! You were created to obey orders! KILL HER!"

Omega's silver gaze was cold and angry, the look on his face made Nudge shiver. The scientist wilted under it. "I only obey the Director. Not you. I was created to be superior to ordinary humans which I am." His voice was clear and calm but with an undertone of menace that allowed no argument. "Doctor Patterson I would strongly recommend that you stop acting above your station."

Doctor Patterson lowered his gaze and muttered something that Nudge couldn't hear. Then he straightened up and glared at Nudge. "You!"

Nudge glared straight back at him. "I have a name you know."

Without any warning he lashed out at her, catching her a blow on the cheek that sent her reeling. Instinctivly she lashed out at him, her hands clenched into angry fists. But something grabbed her wrist and didn't let go. Omega was holding her wrist in a grip like iron which, try as she might, she couldn't break. "Let me go!" She snapped, still fighting to free her hand.

"You are not to harm them," he said calmly. "No experiment is permitted to exhibit signs of physical violence against a doctor."

Nudge stared at him, her face frantic. "Not permitted? _Not permitted? _Screw that! Damn you! I'm not an experiment! I'm more, I'm _more! _I have a name, a life!" Her voice grew in pitch and she knew she sounded hysterical but she didn't care. "I don't obey orders. **I don't obey orders!**"

Omega studied her curiously as she writhed and fought, angry tears streaking down her face. "Everyone must obey orders. And you are an experiment; part of the failed Batchelder project."

Nudge stopped struggling and slowly shook her head. "He designed us..." She murmured, suddenly feeling utterly spent and very alone.

"No. The Director designed you, oversaw the project. He created you. Engineered you."

The whitecoats had been debating about something. Finally Dr Patterson walked towards Nudge, a sneer on his face and a towel in his hand. He tossed it to Nudge and she caught it by reflex, looking at it dumbly.

"Clean yourself up." He ordered.

She wiped the blood from her face, wincing as it slid like oil across her skin. She scrubbed at the blood on her arms but she could only remove a little; it was caked on hard. She wished with all her heart that she could have a shower, a proper shower that took ages. Max always said that she took too long in the shower. Another pang. That was bad, _don't think of Max, don't think about any of them. _

When she had finished he took the soiled towel back, holding it between finger and thumb, looking at it with distaste. With a grunt of disgust he flicked it away from him and it slid across the blood stained floor, thudding softly against a-a-a...

Nudge retched and turned away from the disembered corpse. Omega still held her wrist, his eyes fixed on the whitecoats. Dr Patterson gestured for them to follow him and set off through the double doors. Omega followed, dragging Nudge with him. She didn't try and resist.

What was the point anymore?


	2. Alarm Bells

**A/N: **Sorry about the vegetarian diet; I completely forgot about that...From now on Nudge will be 100 meat free. Promise.

And the pairing shall be called (drum roll please) Nomega! Hardly original, but it was the one that sounded the best - Oudge, Omudge, Nmega, Nega...

* * *

They marched through a blindingly white corridor, disconcertingly close to one you might find in a hospital. The floor was white-flecked-with-black linoleum, the walls were pale cream and the lights were harsh and glaring. Metal doors, like the one they had come through were spaced at regular intervals down the corridor.

Nudge shuddered to think what was behind them.

Her steps zig-zagged and her vision swam with tears; if it hadn't been for Omega dragging her along she would have collapsed. Every time she blinked she saw the nightmare scene of the white room etched in her mind forever.

_Max where are you? _Her thoughts were a blur and the one constant was Max; wishing for her to be here, wondering what she would do, what she would say to make it all right again. Max always had a plan, she always saved the day.

But Max was gone, gone, gone.

"Where's Max?" Her voice was choked and the words hurt her throat, a throat raw from crying. Omega didn't break his stride, didn't even slow down. One of the whitecoats looked back at her, his face confused as though he'd forgotten she could talk. The other two just ignored her.

"Where's Max?" She said, a little louder, planting her feet and dragging back against Omega's relentless pull.

Omega stopped dead and glared at her, his silver eyes burning with anger. "I do not know. Now come." He yanked her arm so hard that it almost popped out of the socket and started forwards at the same ground-covering pace. Nudge had to jog a little to keep up.

"Where are we going?"

No answer. He didn't look back at her.

"Why am I here?"

No answer.

She tried one last time. "Where are we going Omega?" Then something clicked. "Where's the Director?"

That got a response. He tensed, his hand tightening painfully on her wrist and she winced. When he spoke it wasn't his usual monotone, it was pitched lower and almost a snarl. "The Director is...otherwise engaged. She is not here at the moment." He sped up even more, his legs taking impossibly long strides so Nudge was forced to run to stop herself falling and being dragged along anyway.

Suddenly the whitecoats stopped in front of a single metal door with no locks and no handle. Omega stopped to, snapping to a halt so abruptly that Nudge ran straight into him. It was like colliding with a brick wall. Stepping backwards she peered at it, trying to see how you would get in. Then she saw it, a tiny pad next to the right with numbered buttons and a slot to drag a card through. Dr Patterson stepped forwards, punched in a combination so quickly that Nudge couldn't even see one number in it, let alone the entire sequence. _Damn it Nudge! _She thought, _Max would have seen that!_

But Max wasn't here.

He pulled a card out of a pocket and pulled it through the slot. There was a faint beeping noise and the door slid open with a faint _ssssh. _Doctor Patterson strode inside but the other two hung back, looking nervous. Omega marched after him, pulling a terrified Nudge behind him.

* * *

They were in a room that was almost identical to the one Nudge had woken up in with the same white tiles and white walls and horizontal strips of light on the high ceiling. It had what looked like a dentists chair sunk into the middle and metal cupboards around the edge.

"Where are we?" Nudge whispered, feeling sick as she caught sight of a scalpal with a smear of red on it.

Patterson chuckled and turned around to face her. "We, my dear are in the operating theatre."

Nudge's eyes grew wide. "But wh-wh-why? Why are we here?"

He laughed again, a mocking sound that made Nudge simultaneously very, very angry and very, very scared. "B-b-because," he snapped. "Your flock has been nothing but trouble and since we can't find the rest of you hell-accursed _freaks _I'll just have to take revenge on you!"

Hope and relief blazed through Nudge; _they hadn't found the flock! _They were safe. They were safe...

But then suddenly everything snapped into perspective.

They hadn't found the flock but the sick, demented, obscene _bastards _had her. God knows what they were planning.

He reached for the scalpel and Nudge braced herself for the worst, gritting her teeth and feeling the tears streak down her face. _Goodbye Max, Iggy, Fang, Angel, Gazzy...I'll miss you guys. I love you all. _

Then the pealing bell began to sound, a high pitched, shrill buzzing that seemed to come from everywhere. "Holy shit!" Swore Patterson, dropping the scalpal and looking around in horror. A cool metallic voice sounded from a hidden speaker.

_There is a fire in Sector 12, repeat there is a fire in Sector 12. Evacuate immidietly. This is not a drill. Repeat; this is not a drill. _

Then everything was chaos.

* * *

Dr Patterson bolted for the door, Omega glued to his heels. Nudge followed, trying to remember if she had seen a way out as she was dragged through but her mind just drew blanks. Damn! For now she just ran after the whitecoats, the siren blaring in her ears and the smell of smoke cloying the air. She could hear the screams of trapped whitecoats and the unearthly wails of dying mutants.

Just run. Her heart was hammering in her chest and as the smoke thickened she lost sight of the tide of fleeing scientists. She coughed and coughed as her lungs were burnt by the heat. Her eyes streamed with tears, the smoke irritating them to the point where she could no longer see. But she ran on, searching desperately for a way out.

Then...there!

Nudge could have laughed with relief when she saw the faintly glowing "Fire Escape" sign; it was just so _normal, _the sort of thing that you would see in a mall or a church or..._anywhere_. It was a shred of normality in a place that was as twisted and as sick as anything. She headed for it, unfurling her wings as she did so; the instant she was outside she would have to fly to avoid being recaptured. Already her feathers itched with anticipation, her wings tingled with the desire to be snapped open, catch the wind and fly high into the big blue yonder, unreachable and uncatchable.

Coughing and choking, Nudge shielded her face with one hand while the other groped blindly for the handle. There! Her fingers flosed around it and she pushed with all her strength, opening it easily and stumbling out into the clean, sweet air.

She lowered her hand and looked around. This wasn't the School she remembered. Instead of being in the middle of the desert she was in a clearing in a forest; surrounded by lush green grass. The fresh spring breeze brought the scent of wildflowers and newly cut grass. The dark forest stretched as far as she could see, stretching on over the hills in the distance. Ecstatic, she started her run-up immidietly, beating her tawny wings hard before jumping into the air and gathering height as quickly as she could.

The remenants of smoke in her lungs were soon purged by deep breaths of the glorious air; all memory of the foul stench of blood erased by the delicate scent of flowers and the heady smell of pine as she banked over the trees.

But where to now?

She had to find the flock; it was impossible to believe that she could be safe without them. But where would they be? She wasn't going to go anywhere near Dr. Martinez or Ella; they had been associated with Jeb and she couldn't trust them. But who could she trust?

Only herself. _Only herself. _

She had to get away. Get away from the School, the scientists and..._Omega. _She would find the flock. She would warn Max. And everything would be all right.

But first she needed a drink. Her throat was raw from crying and smoke and she could see a small stream winding it's way below her. Surely it couldn't hurt to stop for a drink? She was careful; making sure that there weren't any whitecoats hiding in the bushes before landing and, using her cupped hands to scoop water up, drank greedily.

The water was icy cold and tasted faintly earthy but Nudge was so thirsty she didn't care. She splashed a lot on her smock which reminded her that she would have to get some new clothes as quickly as possible; she looked painfully conspicuous in a blood stained hospital gown and it would do nothing to keep the cold out. Although the afternoon air was pleasently warm she knew that would change once it got dark.

And she needed food. Her stomach was constricting painfully, tying intself in knots as she realized just how hungry she was. She knew a little bit of how to find food for herself in the wild but it was mostly Max who knew that sort of thing...

_No! Thinking about Max hurts and won't do any good. Don't think about them; you're on your own, manage on your own. You're twelve for pities sake!_

She decided to keep going, fly a bit further and see if she could see anywhere were she could dumpster-dive for food. She started her run up, jumped into the air and then, and then...

Something grabbed her ankle and she came crashing back down to earth, landing hard on her right wing and feeling something crunch. Black spots danced in front of her eyes and she passed out.


	3. Two Prisoners

Nudge woke to a faceful of dirt, hands held behind her back and agonizing pain lancing down her left wing. Her head was pounding and she could feel the steady trickle of blood down from a wound on her head.

She started to struggle, trying to stand but there was something holding her down. Actually, make that _someone; _she could feel a booted foot in the small of her back, pressing down with extraordinary strength. "Let me up!" She cried, twisting and thrashing, craning her neck to see who was holding her down.

"Stay still or I will break your arm." The voice was flat, emotionless and yet utterly serious. Nudge stopped struggling at once but managed to catch a glimpse of who was threatening her.

Omega.

_Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. _

Nudge tried to haul herself up right but the instant she put any pressure on her wing pain shot through it making her cry out. Frantic she turned her head to stare at it and saw, and saw...

She turned her gaze away, revolted when she saw the mangled appendage that was clearly broken. The feathers were matted with blood and mud and she could see the ivory glint of bone.

"What do you want Omega?" She asked, turning her face back into the dirt and breathing deeply, trying to ignore the pain.

"What do I want?" He echoed, sounding bemused.

Irritated Nudge twisted around, her wing screaming in protest as it dragged through the leaf litter. "Yes! What do you and those _bastard _whitecoats want? You've got me all right! I can't escape, my wings broken and so you've got me! What. Do. You. Want!"

He paused and then, to her infinite surprise, he released her and knelt down to examine her wing. Nudge sprang to her feet and jumped away from him, crashing into a tree in the process. _Ow, ow, ow! _She gritted her teeth to stop herself screaming as her useless wing crashed against the hard, unyeilding bark. Omega stood, his silver eyes, as usual, unreadable.

"I do not know." He said, looking at his feet, looking utterly lost. "I do not know what to do."

Nudge was breathing hard as her broken bones ground against each other. "What?" She choked out, not sure how to respond. Omega was the bad guy here but she would have felt sorry for him, he looked so despondent. That is, she would have if she hadn't woken up in a room full of the blood of those he had killed, if his sole purpose in life wasn't to kill her and her flock and oh yes, if he hadn't _broken her wing!_

She began to edge away from him, wanting to put as much distance between them as possible. He heard her feet shuffling and his head snapped up, his silver eyes trained on her. "It would not be wise for you to try and run. I am faster than you and you are injured."

Nudge stopped moving and eyed him warily. "Would you chase me then?"

"Yes. I am trained to eliminate threats to the School; you are on the top six of the list."

Was that a hint of humor? If the boy in front of her had been anyone else then she would have answered yes but Omega was incapable of humor, of cracking a joke. One of the many subtle things that made him so terrifying; he looked human but the little human things were missing. He might slaughter a room of hapless "failures" but he wouldn't feel anything; he was always calm and the emotion he felt was just a shadow, just a flicker. He scared Nudge more than anything.

"Are you going to kill me then?" Nudge enquired, dropping into the defensive crouch Max had taught her; ready to fight.

He shot her a puzzled glance at the movement but said nothing, a slight frown creasing his features as he thought. At length he replied simply: "No."

"Why not?" Nudge had began to edge away from him, trying to cover the sound of her footsteps with words. "I thought you were made to kill."

He didn't lift his gaze from the forest floor as he sighed, and stated calmly. "Nudge stop your foolish attempts to escape; you cannot get away." Then he glanced back over his shoulder as though he was looking for someone before swinging his gaze back to her. "I was not made to kill, I have simply been designed to kill and ordered to kill."

Nudge didn't stop edging away. What other choice did she have? She stayed; she died...wait. He hadn't answered her question.

"Why not? Why aren't you going to kill me?" She pushed, still moving away but consumed by a growing sense of fear and hopelessness. _She was going to die. _

"Because...because..." It was the first time he had ever been stuck for a reply. He looked around wildly as if he was looking for someone, looking for someone to come and help him. She had never seen anyone so confused. "Because...Because..." He stopped and screwed his eyes shut, shaking his head wildly, his jaws clamped together. "Because...I don't know what to do. The Director...My mother...Marian...she left. She left me and didn't tell me what to do." His bloodshot eyes locked onto hers and they weren't calm and blank they were terrified, pleading. "I don't know what to do. She has never left me before. Never. She was always there but these past few monthes, since I lost to Maximum...She's been ignoring me."

He looked away, staring at the burning School and Nudge was suddenly overcome by a surge of pity. He looked so lost. She wanted to go up and _hug _him, like she had done when Angel woke up screaming from dreams of the School and Max wasn't there. She wanted to tell him that it would all be all right. She even took a step towards him. But then she remembered who he was and what he was capable of and she stopped. He was still staring at the burning building as he continued, half to himself.

"This should not bother me in the slightest. It never did before; she has left many times on business...but she has never acted so distant, like I was just another experiment." His fists clenched in sheer anger. "Like I was just another _obsolete, useless**, worthless experiment**_." He glared at her, a look full of loathing. "All she could focus on was the Batchelder Project."

He stopped speaking, breathing deeply to calm himself and Nudge stayed where she was, frozen with fear. "What now?" She asked, her voice shaking.

He cocked his head on one side and stared into the distance, his face blank. Calculating Nudge realized, thinking just like that day when the Director had pit him and Max against each other. It seemed so long ago though it couldn't have been more than a few days. But Omega had said past few _months._

How long had she been out?

"Now I have no choice but to-"

He was cut off.

Cut off by the Eraser jumping out of the bushes with blood red eyes and murder on it's mind.


	4. Fight On

Omega was slammed to the ground by the force of the attack and the two of them, thrashing and fighting and so covered in dust that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other. A flash of white - Omega's hand? His arm? Nudge couldn't tell. - shot out and crashed into the side of the Eraser's face, tearing, rending. A spray of crimson, a sickening crunch and a howl of pain. Then the Eraser brought it's jaws down, snapping and there was another tearing noise and more blood. The fight was a cacophony of blood mingling with dust and mud, two superhuman beings fighting at speeds so quick even Nudge's raptor vision (still blurry from the drugs) had trouble keeping up.

She found herself backing away, slowly to avoid the pain in her wing, away from the fight. This was her only oppurtunity to get away; she had to run, had to run, had to run...

A snarl.  
A reek of fetid breath.  
Bloody drool on her cheek.

And another, a second Eraser, concealed in the bushes sprang at her, knocking her to the ground.

Nudge screamed and brought her arms up as the Eraser lunged at her throat with jagged, yellow teeth. It's jaws sank into her arms and she screamed again but brought up her knees, lashing out blindly with her feet, fighting to ignore the splintering pain in her wing. She balled up her uninjured hand into a fist and slammed it against the side of the Erasers head. It jarred her knuckles but the Eraser rolled off her and Nudge leapt to her feet, dropping into a defensive crouch trying to simultaneously watch the Eraser and find a way out. She couldn't fly, couldn't run; the other Eraser and Omega were far too close, so the only option left was to fight.

But she was hurt, hurt worse than she had ever been in her entire life and she knew that she couldn't win.

Strangely enough the Eraser didn't attack. It just stood there, breathing heavily, it's red gaze on her. But there was something wrong. Something very, very wrong; Nudge knew this but just couldn't put her finger on it. Then it clicked.

The red gaze - its eyes were tinted with more than the usual bloodlust, they rolled in their sockets until the whites showed. It was drooling but there was blood in it and in the Erasers mouth. There were bitemarks on it's ears and shoulders that had to have come from other Erasers. They weren't speaking either, just snarling and snapping and fighting.

Worse still there was a manic grin on the creatures face, it swayed from side to side, barely able to stand but laughing, actually laughing, a sputtering, guttural sound barely different from their snarl.

They were insane.

Appalled Nudge froze, for a heartbeat, barely longer than a second but it was enough. The mad Eraser gathered itself together and sprang, sensing an easy kill. Nudge raised her arms to protect her face and hopefully fend off a few blows though she knew in her heart that she couldn't win. She knew that this was how her life ended, at the jaws of an insane animal, that her body would never be found.

_Goodbye Max, Iggy, Fang, Gazzy, Angel. _

She steeled herself for the blow, for the feel of teeth sinking through tissue and into arteries and veins...

But none came.

_None came. _

There was a crunch and a snarl that turned into a scream of agony that was part animal but human enough to make tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Shaking, she lowered her arms already knowing what she was going to see though she prayed for a difference, that it was Max, bloodied and triumphant who was her saviour.

Of course it wasn't. It was Omega, his face twisted in a bestial snarl that Nudge had never seen before and it sent shivers down her spine. There was blood splashed up to his elbows and deep cuts across his back and three claw marks on his cheek. He was crouched over the fallen Eraser, watching her with steely silver eyes.

Seconds ticked by like eternities and neither of them moved an inch. Finally Omega moved, standing up slowly, deliberately, effortless, disregarding his wounds. The snarl vanished to be replaced by the frozen mask that Nudge knew so well. He lifted his hand and brushed away the blood seeping down in face and wiped his hand on his white, lab-issue trousers before bending over the corpse, studying it intently, his back to her.

"Are you injured?"

Mute, Nudge shook her head, fear infecting her bloodstream and clouding her brain with a deadly haze making it near-impossible to think. Desperately she thought of a thousand escape plans but dismissed them as soon as they took form; her wing was broken so no flying, she couldn't out run him, he was stronger and a better fighter than her and she had no weapon. The best option was to, to...there was no best option.

"Thank you for saving me." The instant the words left her mouth Nudge regreted them but there was no taking them back; they fell like stones and shattered the silence. Omega's head snapped up and his eyes were filled with shock. Then he blinked and the mask was back in place; frozen, blank, inhuman and utterly terrifying. He said nothing, his mouth set in a thin line. Nudge blundered on, desperate to fill the silence with words, with something, anything. "Wh-what was wrong with the Erasers? They looked...insane. There was something wrong with them, I'm sure there was."

And he relaxed. The tension crept out of his shoulders and his hands, which had been clenched in fists so tight that his knuckles were bleaching white, uncurled and flexed in the mud. He stood, slowly and stretching before turning to face her. "You are right. There was something wrong with them."

He took a step forwards and Nudge stepped back, her heart slamming against her ribs, metal shards of agony leaping through her broken wing. Her arm was sticky and hurt like hell but she still raised it in front of her, still lowered herself into the crouch that Jeb and Max had taught her.

She still got ready to fight.

Omega looked puzzled. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

He shook his head slowly. "You are hurt."

Nudge nodded. "Yes."

"You cannot fly away."

"No."

"You cannot beat me."

A beat. Time warped, stretched, the words sticking in her throat. Then: "No."

He came closer. Nudge stepped backwards, moving slightly to the side to try and get around him.

"And yet you still prepare to fight."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because," The words stuck and Nudge swallowed hard before continuing. "Because, what else can I do?"

He had no answer for that, merely stepped closer and closer, coming steadily nearer like a lion to it's prey.


	5. End of Everything

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing. If you want to sue someone, sue disneydork.

**A/N: **A very trippy chapter but hey; you gotta love 'em.

And the Nomega starts properly next chapter for those interested.

Rated **T **for swearing, bloody violence and random trippy scenes!

* * *

"Are you scared Nudge?"

"Yes."

"What of?"

"You."

"Why?"

"You're going to kill me."

A pause, an infinite pause that stretched on and on and on while Nudge licked her dry, cracked lips and fought back the tears.

"Yes."

She couldn't help it, couldn't stop it. A gasp of horror escaped her throat and salty tears streamed from her overflowing eyes. There was no fear, no panic just cold despair and colder isolation. Hopelessness filled her mind and she shook her head, still hardly able to believe that this was how it ended. Omega came closer, a single step as he dropped into a crouch, ready to spring.

Nudge backed away although she knew that it would do any good. Her trembling fingers brushed a leaf, just a touch, nothing more...

_Screaming! The woman was screaming as she ran, screaming from the pain of her wounds, here was a woman not used to pain..._

Nudge snatched her hand back as though she'd been scalded. Omega saw this and his silver gaze snapped to her hand. "What happened?" He demanded.

"She was screaming." Nudge blurted out as her wide eyes darted from the leaf to Omega who was still advancing on her. Quickly she put out both her hands and brushed the leaves, searching for something, anything. After fruitlessly grabbing at the plant for a few seconds her little finger grazed a nearby tree trunk and she gasped as the images flooded her mind.

_She ran and ran and ran, hearing the insane howls behind her and she ran, her chest bursting and a stitch tearing down her sides..._

Nudge was so caught up she forgot all about Omega. Her fingers scrabbled at the tree, the nearby plants as she searched for more.

_Blonde. Terrified. Run. I can't hear you. Help me. They'll kill me. You can't leave me. I'm ordering you; you can't leave me Batchelder!_

"Jeb!" Nudge was stunned. The woman seemed horribly familiar but she couldn't place her face...

_Batchelder! You bastard! How dare you? I'll have your job for this! I'll have your head for this! You bastard! You can't leave me! **You can't leave me! **_

"Oh my God." Nudge span around and faced Omega who was now less than six feet from her. "Oh my God." Her hand flew to her mouth as the images reverberated in her brain, flashing and fading and growing louder until they had been reduced to one phrase; one terrified phrase:

**_YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!_**

"Did you know?" She demanded.

Omega stopped and frowned, tipping his head on one side as though it would help him think better. "Know what?"

"That...that..." Nudge froze, trying to find a way to phrase it. In the end she gave up trying to be delicate; he was going to kill her anyway so why bother about his feelings? "That the Director is..." She was going to say dead but realized that she wasn't. Not yet anyway. "Running. Screaming and running. Jeb had something to do with it..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Omega freeze, his muscles tense and his eyes burn with a feral light that sent shivers down her spine.

"Jeb Batchelder?" His voice was dangerously low and his gaze was like a drill burrowing into her brain. Nudge backed away, took a single step and he sprang, faster than she could follow, a silver-and-white blur. He siezed her arm in a grip like iron and though Nudge fought to free herself she couldn't.

"Let me go!" She pleaded, her voice distorted by tears.

His teeth were gritted, he was physically restraining himself from springing at her, from killing her. His eyes sparked with anger -- no it was beyond anger. It was frenzy, pure animal insanity, worse than the Erasers because it was controlled, held in check by his icy mask. It was worse because you didn't see it, didn't see this core to him; he wasn't a robot, he wasn't an experiment, he was more...

_Monster. _

But it was worse than that. Nudge had seen monsters and they weren't like Omega, they weren't like the mad Erasers. They were men and women in white coats who tortured children for some obscure purpose. She didn't just fear Omega then, she _pitied _him. He didn't know any better. Maybe that was the bad part; she pitied him. She wasn't just the mouthy one of the flock she was more compassionate than Max, more human than Fang (she had held on while the Director had fallen; her muscles screaming but she had held on and held on while Max's eyes had frozen to solid chips of blue ice.)

"Jeb Batchelder?" His voice startled her from her thoughts and she frowned in puzzlement before grasping what he meant.

"Yes."

He released her and Nudge almost collapsed with relief. Turning his back, he started to examine the ground, scuffing at the earth with his shoes and examining the trees. Nudge stepped away a little and his head snapped up. "How did you know?"

"I just...do." Nudge said lamely while searching for the words to describe her unusual power. "I touch something and I feel the emotions, the...vibrations of someone whose been there. The more recent images are sharper, clearer." Nudge gestured with one hand. "These are blurry; I'd say they're a few days old at least."

"Could you track her?"

Nudge saw her lifeline and siezed it with both hands. "Yes Omega. Yes I could."

* * *

Running.

Running until her chest was splitting.

Running until her heart was screaming.

Running until she couldn't keep going.

Fall. Pulled up. Wrist hurts. Run on.

**_YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! _**

Mind whirling.

Images dancing.

Blonde. Running. Screaming. Jeb. Dark. Pain. Grey. Silver.

Max. I want Max.

Max is dead.

Did he say that?

No. I thought it.

Couldn't form coherent thoughts.

Drugs. They used me to test drugs.

Who cares?

Silver.

Blood.

Silver blood red eyes that reflected the light like sheets of metal.

Sorry Max.

Wait...Am I even running anymore? The worlds spinning, falling.

I'm falling.

Max. Don't let me fall Max.

Can't hear you.

She's dead. Everyone's dead. The whole world burnt.

Stormgreyrainonmyfaceputoutthefireputoutthefiremyheartsburning...

Fever wracked. Heart stopping.

Oh I want rain!

Flock.

No.

Life?

Gone.

_Heart slowing and slowing nothing left behind my eyes..._


End file.
